Don’t worry world! We always support watching documentaries legally and many of the films we recommend on Influence Film Club are available where you live too. We suggest using your preferred method for watching a film – such as searching iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, VOD platforms (video-on-demand), or renting/buying a DVD.

Blood Brother

Traveling India, American college graduate Rocky Braat met a group of HIV-positive orphans, an encounter that changed his life. BLOOD BROTHER is a tale of disease and abject poverty, of a life stripped down to its essence, and of love enduring in the face of death.

Step out of your comfort zone at least once a day to expand your head and heart horizons. Start small, by taking a different way home or greeting a stranger on the street.

Donate to World’s Children, an organization that works with orphans in India, many of whom are living with HIV/AIDS.

Related Articles and Resources

Filmmakers Chat About Personal Journey to India

“We wanted to see for ourselves and try to understand the love that Rocky had for these kids. We also wanted to do something apart from commercials and music videos. In many ways, it was an experiment.”

PBS interviewed filmmaker Steve Hoover, along with the film’s producer, Danny Yourd, to learn more about their own journey to make BLOOD BROTHER.

Understanding AIDS Phobia

“There are two diseases that strike fear in most everyone; “cancer,” and “AIDS.” And that fear is completely rational and understandable. But in the matter of AIDS, what happens if that fear takes control of your life?”

Propaganda Accusations

Decline in Child Mortality Rates

“New data released today (September 16, 2014) by the United Nations Organisation show that under-five mortality rates have dropped by 49 per cent between 1990 and 2013. There has been accelerated average annual reduction during this period but overall progress is still short of meeting the global target of two-thirds decrease in under-five mortality by 2015.”

“What is shocking is that many of the neonatal deaths can be easily prevented with simple, cost-effective interventions before, during and immediately after birth.”

Advances in HIV Research

“The annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) was held in Boston, US from 3-6 March 2014. Every year CROI provides an opportunity for researchers from around the world to come together and share the latest developments in HIV research and development. Several interesting areas of research which were presented at this year’s conference.”

Leaving the West for India

30 Things Every American Should Know Before Moving To India

“Nellie Thompson, my girlfriend and co-author, and I both lived in Mumbai as working professionals–she for six months and I for the better part of a year. Here we offer our own casual observations on what we, as Americans, found amusing, thought-provoking, and downright strange about life in India.”